Stealing My Heart
by Sammieantha95
Summary: Damon Salvatore had come back to Mystic Falls in search of Katherine. During his search Elena has captured his heart. Or has she? Is a beautiful blonde vampire slowly stealing his heart?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N= **This is my first fanfic ever, so I'm not sure how good it is. I don't have a beta, so please excuse my horrid grammar and spelling mistakes. Constructive criticism is very much enjoyed! Please let me know how it is.

* * *

Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline sat around a table at the Mystic Falls grill talking about the upcoming dance at school.

"But, you have to go!" Caroline said to Bonnie.

Bonnie had just informed Elena and Caroline that she didn't want to go

to the spring dance.

"I don't have anyone to go with. You have Tyler or even Matt," She turned to Elena, "You have Damon or Stefan. I don't have anyone. I don't want to be a third wheel." Bonnie said with a slight frown on her face.

Ever since, what she dubbed, 'The Jeremy Incident' she hadn't felt like dating. It was just too difficult and complicated in a town that seems to attract supernaturals more than humans. Not only that, but truth be told, she wasn't quite over Jeremy. She missed him. Even after everything that happened between him and Anna.

"I don't want to go with Damon or Stefan. I'm done with the Salvatores." Elena stated with a serious expression.

Caroline rolled her eyes thinking that that's what Elena always says. Give it a week and she'll be back with one of them. Probably Damon. It's not like Caroline blamed Elena. She harbored quite a big crush on the oldest Salvatore herself. Not that anyone knew though. Even after all he had done to her, using her as his vampire plaything, she couldn't help but think he had changed.

"And I'm not going with anyone," Caroline said. "I know!" she said, perking up," lets just all go together. A girl's night out, we haven't done that in a while."

"Really Caroline?" Bonnie asked, not really wanting to go at all.

"It'll be fun. Besides we all deserve a break from,well, our lives."

"Fine, I'll go if Elena goes," Bonnie said.

Caroline turned to Elena waiting to see what she would say. Elena hesitated, and then smiled. "Alright. A girl's night out it is."

"Yay!" squealed Caroline. "We're all going to have a good time, we can even have a sleepover at my place afterwards."

Elena only half listened when Caroline started describing the dress she wanted to get. She couldn't stop thinking about Damon. Elena hadn't missed Caroline's eye roll when she said she was done with the Salvatores. She couldn't help it. There was just something compelling about the vampire brothers.

"What do you think Elena?" Caroline asked.

"Uh, about what?"

"You weren't list-"

Caroline's response was interrupted by a Original.

"Well, who do we have here?" Rebekah said with a smirk.

"What do you want, Rebekah?" A scolding Caroline asked.

"Only to let Miss Gilbert here know that her Salvatore men aren't as faithful as she thinks." She smirked down at Elena.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Bonnie asked.

"I am proud to announce that Stefan and I are going to the dance together."

Elena tried to keep her calm, but in reality it felt like a knife was being thrusted into her heart. It was one thing to find that Damon and Rebekah had had a night, but that was just Damon being a man whore. It was entirely different that Stefan was going with Rebekah. Stefan, the one that had seemed to always have been true to her, was betraying her once more. First with giving into Klaus and now with Rebekah.

"Guess I'll be seeing you girls at the dance," Rebekah said, smirking at Elena and then walking away.

"I hate her," Caroline said.

"She can probably still here you," Bonnie pointed out.

"And I don't care."

"I have to go," Elena said, feeling the tears coming. "I'll see you two later," and she stormed out of the grill and headed home.

Once she arrived at her house, she opened the door and her blood ran cold. Her house was a disaster the furniture was turned upside down, papers were everywhere. And on the wall was a message written in red paint saying

_You can't run forever._

And on the kitchen table lay the sheet of paper with the address of the cousins house in Denver, where she had sent Jeremy for safety.

Elena automatically pulled out her cell phone and dialed Jeremy's number.

"Hello?" Jeremy's voice said through the device.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked quickly.

"Elena? Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Nothing, just had a feeling that something might of been wrong." Elena covered quickly. She didn't want Jeremy to know everything that was going on in Mystic Falls. He would just get worried and want to come back.

"Everything's actually really good here. It's nice not having to worry about all the supernatural crap like I would if I were there. How are things there? Anymore vamp drama?"

Elena smiled at how happy he sounded. She was scared he wouldn't be able to recover from all the loss he had suffered. She had doubted herself when she asked Damon to compel him to leave, but now she was sure it was the right thing to do.

"No, there isn't really any problems here at the moment," She lied, "Everything's been really quite."

Jeremy chuckled, "That doesn't sound like the Mystic Falls that I know."

"Yeah, it's nice to be able to relax a little." Changing the subject she asked, "How's school? Have you made any friends?"

"Schools good. Before you ask, yes, I'm paying attention and getting decent grades. I've made a few friends."

"What kind of friends?"

Elena was worried he would fall in with the wrong crowd again. She didn't want him on drugs or drinking again.

"Don't worry Elena, they're not druggies or alcoholics." Jeremy replied knowing that she was thinking of his 'dark years', "They're pretty cool. I even have a girlfriend."

Elena's eyebrows rose a inch. She was surprised he'd be dating so soon after Anna and Bonnie.

"Really? What's she like?" Elena asked.

"She's really pretty and, like, super smart. Her name is Kelsey."

Elena could hear his smile through the phone.

"That's great!"

"Yeah, it's not too serious though. After all the drama and heartbreak with Vicky, Anna, and Bonnie, I just want to relax and have a little fun."

He said feeling slightly nostalgic. He missed them all very much.

"That's good. I don't think you need anything too serious for a while. It sounds like you're happy there in Colorado though."

"I really am, Elena. I miss you though. "

"I miss you too, Jeremy." Elena said while a tear slid down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and switched the phone to her other ear, "Promise me you'll be careful and stay out of trouble."

"I promise, Elena. I'm not the same person I was in Mystic Falls. I know how to stay out of trouble now." Jeremy knew that Elena worried about him but he was being honest, he had changed.

"Thank you. If you need anything please call me. I'll always be here for you. You know that right?" She asked really starting to worry about the note she had found.

"Don't get all mushy on me! I know," Jeremy paused and Elena could here a voice calling for him in the background, "Hey, Elena, I have to go."

Elena sighed, "Alright, I'll talk to soon, okay? I love you."

"Love you too, bye." Jeremy hung up and Elena set her phone down on the kitchen table and looked around.

She needed to look and see if anything was missing and look for clues as to who had broken in and left the note for her. But, first she needed to get someone over here so that she wasn't completely alone and defenseless.

She picked her phone up again and scrolled through her contacts until she found the name she was looking for. She hit call and waited for it to ring.

"Is everything okay?" Damon asked urgently.

"I don't know, someone broke into my house. Can you come over?" She asked a little timidly. She should be asking Stefan, but after what Rebekah said, she couldn't bring herself to call him.

"Be there in a minute."

He hung up and Elena let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding in. She thought he would say no, he probably should of.

'No,' she thought to herself, 'You are not going to act like we're doing anything wrong. He's a friend who's just coming over to make sure everything is alright.'

Deep down she knew that that wasn't true. She just wasn't ready to confront her feelings about Damon yet.

Elena stood in the hallway taking in the complete chaos that was the living room. There was a broken lamp on the floor, all the cushions were off the couches, the side tables were turned upside down, the tv was busted. She didn't know where to start picking up.

"Whoa," Damon said as he entered the house. "Who knew you could be so destructive."

Elena rolled her eyes, ignoring the comment, "This isn't the creepy part."

Damon followed Elena to the kitchen. "This," Elena said," is my message," pointing to the paint, "and I saw the sheet of paper with my family's address where Jeremy is on the kitchen table."

"So you think this person is after Jeremy?"

"It'd make sense. If this person is after me, then they would know to harm the one's I love. Could this be Klaus?"

"No, this doesn't seem like a tactic he'd use."

"Katherine?"

"No she'd dramatically show up unexpectedly and ruin everyone like the bitch she is," Damon scolded. "It could be someone just messing around with you. But you should be careful and keep your eyes open."

"Okay, thanks Damon. Did you know Rebekah's going to the dance with Stefan?"

"No, Stefan hasn't said anything,"

"Oh,"

"Well I'll see you later," Damon said heading out the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To the bar to meet up with Alaric."

"Aren't you going to help me clean?"

"You're house, you're responsibility not mine. See you later," Damon said, smirking as he left a fuming Elena alone to clean.

* * *

**A/N #2= **I will try to upload a chapter a week, but I currently don't have access to the internet so I'll upload whenever I can make it to the library.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N= Hi! I just want to say thank you to everyone that added this story to alerts and favorites. Thanks to the reviewers too! I'm trying to make the chapters longer for those of you who asked. This chapter wasn't beta'd so please excuse my grammatical and spelling erros. Please enjoy! **

Caroline walked down the shopping strip searching the windows for a dress. Her heart really wasn't in the hunt though. She couldn't stop thinking about Damon. All she could see in her head was his piercing blue eyes. Of course all those beautiful eyes see is Elena. She huffed, everything was always about Elena. She loved her, they had always been really close, not as close as she and Bonnie were, but close. Stefan loved Elena. Damon loved Elena. Hell, it even looked like Elijah may be falling in love with her.

"What's so serious, love?"

Caroline narrowed her eyes and turned around.

"Klaus."

She was really confused about where her and Klaus stood. First he had tried to use her for the sacrifice and he acted liked he hated her, but now he has been civil. Nice, even.

"How are you?" She didn't think she'd ever asked a Original that.

"I'm alright. How are you, love? You looked very deep in thought when I walked up."

"It's nothing." The blonde wasn't about to spill her guts to the guy who has made her life a living hell for the past few months.

"If you say so. Can I treat you to lunch?" Klaus asked, pointing to a small restaurant.

She couldn't help but wonder what people would say if they saw her out to lunch with him. Still, Caroline really didn't want to go eat with the Original. She could admit he wasn't such a bad guy when he wasn't killing and threatening anyone, but he was still Klaus.

"No, I don't really enjoy eating with a man who has killed friends of mine and who has made my life a living hell." She stated bitterly, hoping he would just leave her to shop.

"Still sore about the past are we? That was long ago, lets let bygones be bygones."

Caroline glared at Klaus, "It doesn't change the fact that all you've done is torture us since you got to town. If you were smart, you'd leave."

Caroline turned, and left Klaus alone on the street.

* * *

Damon sat at the mystic grill bar downing a bottle of bourbon, trying to forget about Elena and the drama she called her life.

He was tired of being a Elena doormat. He longed for the life of partying and having all the sex he wanted. He missed it. Damon honestly couldn't remember why he came back to this town in the first place. He should have left as soon as he found out Katherine wasn't in the tomb.

Damon couldn't leave now, though. Not now that he loved Elena and that there may be a possibility of her returning his feelings.. He couldn't help but love her. There was just something about the doppelgänger.

He placed the empty bottle back on the counter and compelled the bartender for another one. Looks like I'll be here all day, he thought.

"Wallowing in self pity again?" Alaric said, sitting down and ordering whiskey.

"No."

"Sure looks like it." He said.

Ric had fun teasing Damon. He didn't do it often. He doesn't like getting killed that much, but tonight he was in the mood.

Ric composed himself and sat his glass on the counter. He was trying to figure out how to bring up a subject he knew would hurt Damon, but that needed to be settled.

"What's with you and Elena?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

"What do you mean?"

Damon had known that this was coming. Though he didn't feel like he had to answer to anyone, even the man sitting beside him that he (not that he would ever admit it) called his best friend.

"Come on, something's clearly going on between you two." Ric stated.

"She's hot. Wouldn't mind getting in her pants." He smirked and raised an I brow to emphasize his point. Damon knew that Ric would know he was skirting around the question. Alaric, and maybe Stefan, were the only ones who could understand the way his mind works.

"I don't doubt that, but there's something more. You have feelings for her. " Ric didn't want to piss Damon off but he didn't know how not to. "You love her, don't you?"

Although it was in question form, it sounded more like a statement.

A flash of anger flicked across Damon's face, but it was gone in a instant. He really didn't have anything to be angry at. It wasn't Ric's fault that he couldn't hide it better. If anything, he should be angry with himself rather than anyone else.

Damon opted to, for once, be honest.

"Yeah, I do." He replied dryly.

"But you do know she's probably the most unavailable girl in this town, right?" Alaric didn't want to sound like a jackass but he needed to make sure that Damon knew this. Ric may poke fun at him, but Damon was his closest friend. He felt a strange urge to look out for him.

"Yes, I know. It's not like I'm going to try anything. I know better than that. She's a Petrova doppelgänger, she's trouble. Not to mention she's with Stefan." He said glumly.

"Okay. I just don't think we need a hurt Damon Salvatore on our hands. You know how he is." Ric replied trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, haha." Damon said sarcastically, but was actually relieved at the topic change. "So, what are you up to tonight?"

Ric smirked and said, "I need to get laid. Although, I don't think I'll find anyone in this crap town."

"I swear you're more like me than people think. And you're right, you probably won't find anyone here." Damon said thoughtfully, "I know about this bar/club a few hours outside of town, wanna go?"

"I don't know." Ric said skeptically, "I'm supposed to be setting an example for Elena and Jeremy now that I'm their legal guardian. And with the break in at the house... I'm not so sure that is wise at the moment."

"Jeremy won't know, he's somewhere in Colorado, living a supernatural free life. I'm sure Elena won't mind if you take a night to yourself. Just tell her your heading to the next town over for a history exhibit or something. I'll make sure Stefan keeps an eye out for any trouble. He'll make sure no one harms Elena." Damon said really liking the idea of getting out of Mystic Falls, even if it was only for a night. "Come on, we'll get a couple rooms in a hotel and stay over night. Plus, I could use a day or two away from this town." And Elena, Damon thought.

"Well, I'll have to okay it with Elena, but I suppose it would be okay. It definitely would be nice."

* * *

Ric walked in the house later that afternoon to find Elena sitting on the couch reading a book.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?" Ric asked sitting on the opposite side of the couch.

"Sure, what's up?" Elena asked, her face taking in the familiar face of worry.

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. I was wondering if it would be alright with you if I head to a history exhibit the next town over? I would only be gone a night or two."

Alaric still wasn't sure she would be okay with it, with all the recent drama they've had going on. Then again, it seemed like Mystic Falls was never short on drama.

"Well, I guess it would be okay if it was just a short trip. I'll get Bonnie and Caroline to stay with me in case someone try's something again. And Damon and Stefan will be around so I'll be okay." Elena said with a small smile.

"Damon's wanting to go with me, I think.."

"Since when does Damon care about history? He's probably lived most of what you'll be seeing." She said a little confused.

"I just thinks he wants a little time away from Mystic Falls."

"Why would he need time away? It's not like he does anything. " Elena rolled her eyes. He could be such a drama queen sometimes.

"Really, Elena? You, of all people, should know that he does way more than nothing." Alaric didn't like the way that she talked about his friend. He saw Elena and Jeremy somewhat as his own children since they came into his custody. He cared about them both very much, but sometimes Elena could be a little self-centered.

Elena didn't say anything. She knew that her comment was out of order. She just didn't want Damon to go out of town. Him and Stefan were the only reasons she was okay with Ric going. Elena knew there was no way she would be able to keep him from going, so she just decided to drop it.

"Okay, but let me know when you'll be back." She said, wishing they weren't going to be gone long.

"Thanks, I'm going to go get a bag ready then we're hitting the road." Ric said, relieved that she bought the story.

Alaric climbed the stairs to his room and stuffed a few clothing items in a bag. He decided to throw in a few stakes and a few vials of vervain.

'_Just in case.' _He thought to himself.

Ric said bye to Elena and climbed into his car. He stopped by a gas station to fill up his car and grab a few snacks and a soda.

While he was browsing the chocolate bars he saw a blonde head pop up beside him.

"Hey, Ric." Said the cheerful teen.

"Hey, Caroline. How are you?" He asked politely while grabbing a Twix.

"I'm okay. Wish I was anywhere but here." She said deflating slightly.

Whenever Ric saw the cheerleader around town or with Elena she always looked a little down. It wasn't profound, just something that Ric could see in her eyes. Ever since she became part of the supernatural world she always seem stressed.

"I understand that. Maybe you should take a vacation sometime."

"I would love to, but I really wouldn't want to go alone. Bonnie and Elena are always to busy with supernatural stuff and my mother is always at work." Caroline had thought about it before, but always came to the same conclusion that she didn't want to go alone.

Ric knew Damon would kill him, but he couldn't help the words that came out of his mouth, "Well, you could come with us."

The blonde immediately brightened up.

"Really?" Caroline asked. She knew Ric had been hanging around with Damon a lot lately and she wasn't sure if this was just a joke or not.

"Yeah, really. We're heading over to Charlottesville for a night or two and going to a bar there."

'_Yeah, Damon really is going to kill me.' _Is all Alaric thought.

"Who's we?" Caroline asked, although she really didn't care. She had already decided that she was going and was mentally making a list of what she needs to pack.

"Damon and I." He said gauging her reaction to her past tormenter going.

Caroline's face fell slightly. She wasn't so sure that going on a trip with Damon would work out so great. She didn't want to expose her feelings. She realized that she wanted to get out of town more than anything so she decided that it should be fine as long as she distance herself emotionally from him.

She plastered a smile on her face and said, "Okay, sounds fun. When are we leaving?"

Alaric was surprised that she still wanted to go and told her that they were leaving tonight.

"Okay, see you in a bit, I have to pack." She replied brightly and then bounced away.

Now all Ric had to do was break the news to Damon that the blonde was tagging along.

* * *

**A/N #2= I promise there is Daroline interaction in the next chapter! I'll try to update soon. Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N= Yay! I was able to update A LOT quicker this time! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries, even though I would LOVE to. Especially Damon Salvatore.**

* * *

Damon tossed his bag in the back of his car and went to talk to Stefan about watching the town and Elena while he and Ric were gone.

"Hey, I'm going out of town tonight, could you watch out for any kind of danger and for Elena?" Damon asked when he found Stefan on the couch drinking from a poor clueless sorority girl.

"Why would I want to do that?" He asked, wiping the blood from his mouth and smirked.

"Because even though you're all evil and unfeeling now, you wouldn't let anything happen to her."

Damon knew Stefan was putting up a front. He could tell that Stefan was feeling again. Damon has known him for over a century and they were brothers. Stefan couldn't really hide much from him.

Damon didn't blame Stefan for acting like his feelings are still off. He had done the exact same thing multiple times over the last century.

"Fine. I would of anyways." Stefan knew that Damon could see through his front, so decided to just drop it all together in front of Damon.

"Thanks see ya later."

Damon walked out of the boarding house and was surprised to find a little blonde vamp leaning against his car.

"What do you want, Blondie? I'm kinda in a hurry." He was suppose to meet Ric in five minutes at the grill.

"I'm coming with you." Caroline exclaimed happily. She really needed to get out of town for a few days. Even if it was with Damon. She'd just have to be careful not reveal her feelings to him.

"Who invited you?" Damon asked. "Wait, who told you I was even going out of town?"

"Ric." She smiled and threw her huge suitcase in the back seat of his Camaro.

He was going to kill Alaric. He could of at least invited someone less annoying as the blonde.

"Hey, be careful with the car! She's a classic." He said scolding. "You can't go. This is just me and Ric. No room for vampire barbies."

"Please, Damon? I just need to get away from this place." Caroline pleaded.

"Seriously, the puppy dog face? You really think that'll work on me?"

But little did Caroline know that it was working and he had already decided that it wouldn't be so bad if she tagged along.

"Well, no. But please? I really, really need a break. I won't tell anyone, I promise." She asked, praying he would cave.

"Fine. But why are you putting your huge suitcase in my car? You have your own." He said pointing to the Ford Fiesta that was sitting in the driveway.

"Yay! Thank you so much!" She exclaimed while going to hug him, but thought better of it at the last second. "Because there's no sense in taking two cars and wasting gas!" Not to mention, I have a huge crush on you and I would like to spend time with you, Caroline thought to herself. She was completely overjoyed that she convinced Damon to let her go.

"We're only planning on being gone one night, you don't need all those clothes and whatever else you stuffed in that suitcase." Damon said pointedly.

"You have no idea what it takes to look like this." She replied pointing down to her outfit.

It had taken her at least a hour and a half to get ready that morning. She couldn't decide between her silver boots or her black ankle boots. She decided that the black ankle boots looked better with her silver halter top and black shorts.

Damon rolled his eyes but allowed her to get in the passenger seat of his car. He went around and sat in the drivers seat and turned to Caroline.

"Okay, if your going with us I need to set a few ground rules." He held up one finger, "Rule number one: We will not stop before we get there so if you need to pee or whatever, do so when we meet Ric. Rule number two: When we get to the club, you leave me alone. I plan to get laid tonight and I don't want you to scare off the ladies." Caroline rolled her eyes at that and tried not to laugh at his arrogance.

Damon rose a third finger and said, "Rule number three: Absolutely no talking about Mystic Falls at all." He stated. "Or fashion." He added as a after thought. All he needed was the blonde to chat his head off on the drive there about what kind of shoes look good with what dress.

"Okay, I can do that. Let's hit the road!" She squealed happily. "I brought the music." She said holding up a handful of CDs.

_'Ugh, this is gonna be a long drive.' _is all Damon thought as he pulled out of the driveway.

* * *

Damon pulled into the Mystic Falls grill parking lot.

"There he is!" Caroline pointed to the corner that Ric's car was sitting in.

"Yeah, I see him." Damon was already tired of the mindless chatter that Caroline insisted to talk about. And it had only been a few minutes.

He pulled in the spot beside Ric and texted him that he was there.

"He should be out in a moment. If you get hungry I have a cooler in the trunk with some blood bags in it."

"Thanks, I brought snacks and drinks." She said pointing to a bag she had laying in the floorboard.

"We are vampires. We don't need human food." Damon honestly didn't understand Caroline sometimes.

"I know, but it's just so tasty and I figure I would take advantage of the fact that I can't gain wait." Caroline smiled.

Damon rolled his eyes. Of course.

"Okay, there's Ric." Damon pointed towards the Grill's doors. "You sure you don't want to ride with him?"

A flash of hurt crossed Caroline's face, "I can if you would rather I do."

Caroline didn't understand why Damon never wanted to be around her. She knew she annoyed him but she really did try to tone down her personality around him.

Damon saw the hurt on her face and decided that it wouldn't be that bad if the blonde rode with him.

"No, it's okay. Just no Taylor Swift." He said, gesturing to the cd's in her lap.

Ric stepped out of the girl and spotted Damon. He noticed that Caroline was with him and smirked to himself. He should of known that Caroline would talk him into letting her go. No one can say no to her sad puppy dog face.

"You ready?" He asked the two vampires.

"No! I need to use the ladies room real quick." Caroline said jumping out of the car.

Damon rolled his eyes and thought, _'At least she listens well.'_

After he was sure Caroline couldn't here him he asked, "Why did you invite her?"

Ric knowing this was coming said, "I ran into her at the gas station and she looked really sad and I couldn't help but ask if she wanted to come. Come on, you know she isn't that bad."

Alaric knew that the blonde didn't annoy Damon as much as he says she does. In fact, Ric thinks that he actually likes Caroline. Not that Damon would ever admit it, not even to himself.

"Whatever, there's nothing that can be done about it now." He muttered.

"Okay, then. Now, where exactly is the bar?" Ric asked.

"It's right in the limits of Charlottesville. Though, I was thinking we could go ahead and get checked in at the hotel first. You just want to follow me? " He asked, already having thought things over.

"Sure. Be nice to Caroline, okay?"

"Fine, but no promises." Damon replied as Caroline exited the Grill.

"No promises to what?" Caroline asked curiously.

"Just making sure he behaves." Alaric said, not wanting to disclose that he was having to tell Damon to be nice.

"Well, we all know that's not going to happen." Damon said mischievously.

Ric and Caroline both rolled their eyes and laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So you said it's about three hours to Charlottesville?" Ric asked.

"Yeah, just follow me. Call me if you need to stop for anything." Damon replied.

"Hey! You told me we weren't stopping." Caroline exclaimed loudly.

"Yeah, we're not." Damon said, "For you."

"Damon, stop being a jackass." Alaric said, dismayed with Damon's remark. "Caroline, if you need to stop for something we will."

Alaric had a soft spot for the blonde. He knew about Caroline's infatuation with Damon and felt bad for her. Anyone with two eyes could see that she was in love with him. Damon had no right treating her so badly.

"Hey, I was just kidding!" Damon said.

Everyone thought Damon was such a bad guy, when really he wasn't. It was just a way to get people off his back and to leave him alone.

Caroline didn't feel hurt by the way Damon treated her. He wasn't the first to do it and he definitely wasn't the worst. She also knew that he wasn't as bad as he wanted everyone to think he was. She was willing to bet that he was actually a sensitive person underneath it all and that this is all just a front he puts up to keep people out. She wishes that she could know the real Damon Salvatore.

"Yeah, I know you were kidding. Can we just get on the road? I'm eager to get out of this town." Caroline said with her usual happiness.

"I think all of us are." Said Ric pulling the door to his car open.

"Okay, well, if you both have everything, we're ready." Damon wanted nothing more to get out of this town and forget everyone in for a few nights.

* * *

They were about a quarter of the way there. Damon figured they be there in about another hour or so. They would get there around ten p.m.

Caroline had fallen asleep about forty-five minutes into to trip after talking her head off about what was going on in Gossip Girl. When Damon had reminded her of the rules he set, she had pointed out that the only things she wasn't allowed to talk about was Mystic Falls and fashion and that she wasn't talking about either of those things.

He glanced over at the sleeping blonde.

'_She truly is beautiful.'_ He thought to himself. He could never deny that. That's what drew him to her when he first had gotten to town. Damon felt horrible about the way he had treated her, he wishes there was some way he could take it wall back. He'd never tell her any of this though. That just wasn't how Damon Salvatore acted.

He was jarred out of his thoughts when his cell phone began ringing. He glanced at the caller I.D. and rolling his eyes hit answer.

"What, Elena?" He asked exasperated .

"Why didn't Caroline answer her phone? And why is she with you?" Elena asked angrily.

"She's asleep, and she came because she wanted to. She eighteen, Elena. I think she's old enough to make her own decisions." Damon was becoming very tired of Elena. She was always in everyone's business and she thought everything was about her. "How did you even find out she's with us? "

"She's not here, her mom called here looking for her, and you two are the only other people gone. What do you think?

"She didn't tell Liz that she was coming with us?" Damon had figured that Caroline had okayed it with her mother.

"No, Liz went home about twenty minutes ago to find Caroline gone. I told her she was staying with me for a few days. Why did she go with you?" Elena demanded accusingly.

"Hey, I didn't force her to come. Hell, I didn't even invite her. Ric did." He was getting angry now.

"Whatever, just bring her back." Elena stated.

"She can go back if she wants. Leave me alone, Elena. If you have any trouble call Stefan." Damon hung up the phone and prayed she wouldn't call back.

"Was she mad that I came?" Said a sleepy Caroline from the passenger side seat.

"Oh, hey, I thought you were asleep. I'm pretty sure she thinks I kidnapped you, but whatever. At this moment I honestly don't care what she thinks."

"Oh, I'm sorry.. I didn't think it would be a problem." She claimed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"It's alright. Why didn't you at least tell your mother though? She called Elena about half an hour ago looking for you." He asked.

"I didn't think she would notice that I was gone. She usually doesn't. She always too busy with work for me." Caroline said sadly.

Ever since her parents had gotten a divorce Liz had became more devoted to her job. Caroline has basically been raising her self since she was fourteen. Her mom was hardly around and when she was she was either sleeping or changing clothes to go right back to work. It was sad, but Caroline had gotten used to it.

"I'm sorry." Damon said sincerely.

He'd try to talk to Liz about spending more time with her. Every child deserved a little attention from their parents.

"It's okay. Anyways, how far away we?" She asked sitting up a little straighter.

* * *

**A/N#2= I hope y'all liked the Daroline interactions. Let me know what you think! If any of you have any suggestions on what you would like to see in this story then let me know and I'll try to work it in.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N= I am SO sorry for the wait on this! I just couldn't get it down right! But, it's done now! This is the longest chapter I've written so far, I really hope you enjoy it! **

* * *

Damon pulled into the hotel parking lot and parked.

"I'm so glad we're here!" Exclaimed Caroline. "I'm going to go ahead and go in, I really have to pee. I'll meet you both at the front desk."

She hopped out of the car and ran into the hotel.

Ric pulled up beside Damon and got out.

"Where's Caroline? You didn't abandon her, did you?" Alaric asked, only half joking.

"Ha. Ha. No she's inside. She had to use the restroom. I'm not that mean."

"Yes, you are." Ric said with a smirk. "Let's head inside."

They both grabbed their bags and headed inside. They found Caroline arguing with the lady at the front desk.

"You have to have more than one room! There is no way I'm going back to Mystic Falls just because a stupid hotel only had one room open!" Caroline yelled at the poor lady who was just trying to do her job.

"Caroline, calm down." Ric looked at the woman behind the counter, "What's the problem here?"

"We only have one room vacant and this young woman here says she needs three." The woman said , pointing to the aggravated blonde.

"Okay, this isn't a problem, we'll just go to a different hotel." Ric said calmly.

"We're the only hotel with an vacancy in town. There is a big concert tonight, so all the other hotels are booked." The clerk said apologetically.

"Great what are we supposed to do now?" Damon asked annoyed.

"Well, I guess we can just get that room and share.. What room is it?" Ric ask patiently.

"It's actually the penthouse suite."

"Okay, give me a minute to talk to my friends." Ric gestured over to Damon and Caroline who had moved over to the elevators.

Alaric walked over to the two vampires.

"Well, they have the penthouse suite.. But I doubt we have enough money for it." Ric said to them.

"That's really not a problem with two vampires." Caroline said mischievously.

"Wow, Blondie. I didn't think you condoned compelling 'poor innocent people.'" Damon smirked at her.

"I'm not Bonnie or Elena. I have no problem with it if it doesn't cause any harm." She said winking.

Caroline knew she was flirting with Damon and knew she probably shouldn't, but she couldn't help it. It just came naturally to her.

Damon smirked. Who knew the blonde wasn't a prude after all? He wondered what else he didn't know about her.

"Okay, well I guess that's okay. We only want it for a night right?" Ric asked.

"I was actually thinking we could stay the whole week?" Caroline really didn't want to go back to Mystic Falls so soon. She figured that they would say no, but she wanted to give it a shot anyways.

"Sounds great to me." Damon smirked, thinking that he could use a whole week away from that town.

"What about school? And Elena?" Ric asked, hating having to be the realistic one.

Caroline thought about that for a moment and said, "Well, I can compel the school when we get back to wipe it from our records and Damon can just get Stefan to watch out for Elena a little longer. I'll just tell my mother the truth. There's nothing she can do about it, I'm eighteen."

Alaric weighed it all for a moment, "I suppose that will be okay, just as long as everything back in town is in order."

Damon went up to the counter to compel the room, while Caroline went out to the car to get her suitcase and to call her mom.

Caroline pulled open the car door and sat down. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her mom's number.

"Caroline? I'm busy, honey. Can I call you back?" Liz answered hastily.

"No, this won't take but a second. I'm just calling to inform you that I'll be out of town for this week, everything is fine. I'll have my phone on, just in case anything goes wrong." Caroline said, hoping Liz wouldn't freak out.

"What? Where are you? Who are you with? I thought you were at Elena's." Liz said, sounding agitated.

"Look, Mom, I'm eighteen. I can take care of myself. I have been for years now. I'll see you when I get home. Love you, bye." The blonde hung up and huffed.

'_Honestly, why does she even care?" _She thought to herself.

It wasn't like she'd see her any if she was at home. Her mother worked constantly. It wasn't anything new.

Caroline placed her phone in her purse and grabbed her suitcase out of the backseat. She walked into the hotel to find Ric waiting on her.

"Hey, where's Damon?" She asked, immediately noticing his absents.

"He just realized he can't anyone back to the suite." Ric smirked. "So, he's at the bar."

"Yeah, that sounds like Damon. Did he not realize he can just go back to his victims place?"

Caroline was secretly happy that he couldn't bring anyone back to the suite, She didn't want to listen to him sleep with anyone.

"Oh, I'm sure he did, but he's Damon, he has a flair for drama." Ric chuckled, "Wanna head up to the room?"

She nodded her head and the both walked over to the elevator,

"I was thinking, tonight I think I just going to get something for dinner and crash. You and Damon have fun at the club." Caroline said feeling a little sleepy.

"I don't really want to go to the club tonight, either. Mind if I join you?"

Alaric really wanted to get to know Caroline, he believes that they could become good friends over time.

It may be a little awkward at first, seeing as Caroline is his student, but she is also very mature for her age.

"That'll be great! I hate having to eat alone. It never fails to make me feel like a loser." Caroline said, sadly.

After years of having to eat alone she had gotten used to it, but that didn't mean she hated it any less.

They walked into the suite and both of their jaw's dropped. The suite was huge. Off to the right was two big sofas facing towards a mounted flat screen TV. Under the TV was a sleek black fireplace. To their left was a fully stocked kitchen.

Alaric sat his bags down on a sofa. "Wow, this place is huge."

"No kidding. My house could fit in here." The blonde said completely awestruck.

She walked over to the far side of the room, which was a wall made completely of glass. The view was amazing, all she could see was the city lights against the black of the night. The town itself wasn't spectacular, but from this view, anything could look beautiful.

Caroline turned away from the city and went to explore the rest of the suite. She found a short hallway that revealed a door to a beautiful bedroom. In the center of the room sat a huge canopy bed. Caroline's face immediately lit up. She jumped on the bed and groaned at how comfortable it was. There was no way that she is going to give this up for one of the boys. Caroline was very stubborn so the boys could just fight over which couch they wanted.

She climbed off the bed to explore the rest of the room. She found a door that opened up into a bathroom with a full sized tub and shower.

'_Definitely no way I'm giving this room up.' _She thought to herself with a smirk.

Caroline returned to the living room to retrieve her bags to take to her self appointed room.

"I found another room." Alaric said. He had noticed that Caroline had found the master room and assumed that she has wanted that one for herself. "Sense Damon's not here, I'm going to take that one. He'll just have to sleep on the couch.

Caroline giggled, "He's gonna love that."

Just the thought of Damon sleeping on a couch was hilarious. She couldn't imagine he'd be at all happy about it. "He's going to be such a grouch when he finds out."

Caroline dragged her bags to her room and began to unpack her clothes. She was almost done when Damon walked into the room.

"Not so fast Blondie, this is my room now." Damon said sprawling out on the bed.

"I don't think so." Caroline huffed. There was no way that he was taking the room from her. "Go steal Ric's room."

"His room doesn't have a bathroom." Damon simply stated.

"So? You clearly not a girl. You don't need a bathroom, but I do." Caroline pointed out. She was really stubborn and knew that she wasn't going to give it up.

"Do you know what it takes to make me look this good?" Damon said gesturing to himself.

"You're a guy! It cant take that much. Plus, your not that good looking." Caroline huffed, "You're more of a prima donna than I am!"

"Stop denying it, I'm hot and you know it." He smirked. "It doesn't matter either way, I'm not moving."

Caroline rolled her eyes and simply stated, "I'm not giving up the room, Damon" She sat down on the other side of the bed.

'_God, he can be so annoying. Why is he so cute when he does it, though?' _Caroline thought to herself.

She really hated the stupid crush she had on him. It was ridiculous. He used her when she was human, he treated her like crap. She had forgiven him for that, though. His feelings were off so she knew it wasn't really his fault. What really bothered her was his feelings for Elena. Caroline couldn't understand what everyone saw in her. Sure, she was beautiful, but she didn't have that great of a personality. Elena was shallow. Caroline was never that shallow.

"Guess we'll be sharing the room and bed then." Damon said with his signature wink and smirk.

Alaric chose that moment to come see what the two were arguing about.

"What's wrong now?" He asked.

"Damon insists on taking the room that I clearly staked claim to first." Caroline said, scolding in Damon's direction.

"Seriously, that's the problem?" Ric rolled his eyes at the two of them.

"Yes! I need this room!" Caroline stated, really how many times does she have to point that out?

"I'm not getting in the middle of this." Alaric left the room and headed to unpack his own things.

He walked into the smaller room and laid his suitcase at the foot of the bed.

Ric didn't understand why they had to argue about everything. It was starting to look like this trip may be longer than he expected.

* * *

The next morning they all awoke after a nice dinner and heading to bed early. Damon and Caroline had slept in the same bed, seeing as both of them were too stubborn to give it up.

Caroline would be lying if she said that she didn't enjoy sharing a bed with him. It's not like they snuggled or anything but it did seem intimate in a certain way. There was no denying that the blonde vampire really enjoyed the fact that all Damon slept in was his boxers.

Damon smirked at the thought of Caroline being so stubborn about the room. Most people didn't want to be in the same room with him, let alone the same bed. He found it some what comforting that she wasn't afraid to sleep in the same room and bed as himself.

The three friends gathered in the kitchen trying to decide on what to do for the day.

"We could go to the zoo!" Caroline said, getting excited about the idea. Since there was no zoo in Mystic Falls she had only been to one once or twice.

"Really, Blondie? The zoo. No thanks."

'_Of course Damon would be opposed to that idea.' _Caroline thought to herself with a huff.

"Let's brainstorm some more ideas." Ric said, not really wanting to go. "It's not completely out of question." He said after seeing the sad look cross Caroline's face.

Damon had noticed the look too and decided that it wouldn't be so bad if that's what they ended up doing.

"Well, there's a museum and planetarium." Damon said nonchalantly.

Alaric perked, "Really?"

"Yeah, but you're the only one wants to see it." Damon smirked.

Alaric looked to Caroline who just half-smiled and shrugged. She wasn't a huge fan of history. He knew that from grading her papers she had written for his class.

"Well, I don't know then." Ric said, fresh out of ideas.

"We could go see a movie?" Caroline suggested.

"I don't know.. We could've done that back in Mystic Falls." Ric said.

"Why don't we just go to the damn zoo then." Damon said. "It doesn't seem like we have anything else to do."

"Really?" Caroline asked skeptically.

"Sure, why not?" Damon stated not really wanting to, but didn't see another option.

"Oh My God! Thank you!" Caroline said suddenly throwing her arms around Damon in a quick hug.

Damon froze for a second but then relaxed. He wasn't used to being hugged, but was secretly overjoyed that she had hugged him. Not that he would let anyone know that, let alone Caroline.

"Get off me." Damon said sounding irritated.

Caroline quickly backed away and apologized for her impulsive hug. She didn't know what had come over her. She just had gotten so excited that he had said that they could go.

"Are you okay with it Ric?" Damon asked.

"Yeah, it's fine." He looked at Caroline and fake whispered, "Don't tell anyone, but I may have a thing for meerkats. "

Caroline giggled and went to 'her' room to get ready.

"You have a soft spot for Blondie don't you?" Damon asked, smirking.

"Yeah, I guess I do." Ric said. "Seems like you may have one too."

Damon scoffed but realized that Caroline was growing on him.

"I suppose I am developing one."

Ric rolled his eyes at how ignorant Damon was being. He had seen the moment of satisfaction when Caroline had hugged Damon. Alaric knew that Caroline was slowly, but surly growing one him.

"I guess we should go get ready." Damon said. "Don't want to be late for the meerkats." He smirked at Ric.

"Should've known you would mock me for that." Alaric said.

"Yeah, you should of."

"Whatever." Alaric said with a chuckle.

He disappeared into his room to get ready for the day out.

Damon went to 'his' room to get ready himself. He heard the shower going from the bathroom and figured that Caroline would be a few minutes so he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out the object he had carefully nestled into the side of his suitcase.

"Hey, Mom." He whispered opening the ancient locket.

It was the only possession of his mothers that he had kept. He carefully opened the locket to see a picture of his mother from about a year before she died and a picture of himself and Stefan at a young age.

He couldn't bare to give up the locket after he had become a vampire.

"What's that?" Caroline asked as she entered the room wrapped in a towel.

Damon snapped his head toward the bathroom door, startled. He hadn't noticed the shower shutting off.

"Oh, it's nothing." He said, tucking the locket back inside his suitcase. "You ready for today? Whoa, you're naked." Damon said, caught off of guard when he turned to see Caroline in the middle of slipping underwear on.

"Uh yeah.." Caroline said. "You've seen me naked."

Damon let his eyes wonder across her bare body. Why had he not realized how truly beautiful she was when they were 'dating'?

"You're sort of creeping me out. I know I'm not that pretty but you don't have to stare." Caroline said feeling extremely self-conscious.

She had always felt really self-conscious. Every since she could remember she had worried that she wasn't skinny enough. It had resulted in a eating disorder when she was younger and that had only ended when Bonnie had noticed and forced her to start eating and telling her mother.

"I wasn't staring at you because you're ugly. You are actually the polar opposite of ugly." Damon said, slipping into the bathroom and closing the door.

Caroline's heart fluttered.

'_Did he really mean that? Probably not, it's __**Damon**__ he was probably mocking me.' _Caroline thought. She finished getting ready and headed to the kitchen for some blood.

After everyone was ready to go the gathered by the door and made sure they had everything.

"Yay! Let's go!" Caroline exclaimed.

'_What have I gotten myself into.' _Damon thought to himself while exiting the suite.

* * *

**A/N#2= Let me know what you thought! Next chapter: the zoo! I promise that Daroline moments are coming. Slowly but surely!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N- I'm **_**SO**_** sorry about the horribly long wait. I don't even have a suitable excuse. I just couldn't get it out. Thank you so very much for all the new followers and reviews. I hope you all like this chapter! If I have any Whovian readers, you may spot something from it in this chapter. I still don't have a beta, so please excuse all the grammatical errors and/or misspellings.**

Caroline's face lit up immensely as she, Ric, and Damon made their way through the gates of the zoo. She still couldn't believe that the guys had agreed to come.

"So, Blondie, what do you want to see first?" Damon asked, enjoying seeing her so happy, but not liking having to be there.

"I really want to see the koala bears! They're just so cute." She exclaimed happily.

Damon rolled his eyes, of course she would want to see the koala bears. He had hoped she would pick something more manly like the lions or lizards.

"Sure." Ric said.

"We have to walk down that trail, then turn left to reach it." Caroline said studying the map in her hands.

They started towards the area she had gestured to.

Ric didn't mind spending the day at the zoo. He secretly loved animals. He had thought about going to veterinarian school when he was married to Isobel, but when she had disappeared he decided to just get a teaching degree. It had been more of a practical decision. He did love history and had come to love teaching, but his real passion was in animals. No one else knew, but it became apparent to the other two when they made it to the enclosure.

"We probably won't see them move any. They usually don't wake until after the sun sets." Alaric said looking at the koalas. "They generally are only awake about five hours a day."

"Didn't know that you knew so much about these creatures." Damon said. He had not known that Ric was so interested in koalas. Or any animal for that matter.

"It's not just these. I know a lot about animals in general. I think they're interesting."

"That's awesome! Aren't they so cute, though?" Caroline asked looking at the koalas lovingly.

Ric and Damon rolled their eyes and chuckled, they should've known she would only care about how cute they were.

Caroline was glad that she had brought her camera with her. She snapped a few pictures and then turned to the boys, "What do you two want to see?"

"I say we ditch this place and find a bar. It wasn't worth that twelve dollars to get in." Damon said, smirking.

"Damon, you didn't pay for your ticket. You flirted with the ticket lady and she gave you a free one." Caroline said, rolling her eyes. He always had to flirt with anything that had two legs. Seriously, how can he be such a man-whore?

"That and it's ten in the morning. There isn't a bar that's open." Alaric pointed out. He turned to Caroline, "I would like to see the elephants."

"Oh, me too! Elephants are actually my favorite non-domestic animal." Caroline said. "They're so smart."

"They really are. They also never forget anything." Ric stated.

Throughout the day they each saw animals that they enjoyed. Everyone were able to get along really well, and they were all having fun.

Damon had mysteriously slipped away while the two were occupied with the gift shop.

"Do you know where he could've gone?" Caroline asked. She wasn't at all surprised that he had slipped away, she had been expecting it.

"Probably a bar or something. Let's just hope he didn't take the car." Ric stated displeased. "I'm going to head back in and see if I can find something for Elena." He gestured towards the gift shop.

Caroline smiled, "Make sure you don't get her a stuffed Koala, I already got one for her. I'm going to wait here"

He nods and heads into the shop.

Caroline had decided that she would get something small for Elena and Bonnie. She was starting to feel the guilt of just up and leaving. She got Elena the bear, figuring it wasn't too much, but was better than not bringing anything at all. For Bonnie she chose a small charm bracelet that had a few different animal charms on it.

Some of the animals on the bracelet had some characteristics that were nice and calm, while some were ferocious and strong. Just like how Bonnie is.

Alaric came out of the shop, carrying a oversized panda bear.

"Wow, that things huge." Caroline said, it probably stands as tall as her waist.

"It's the only thing I saw that I thought she would like." He said.

He really didn't know that much about Elena, like what sort of things she likes. He just figured every girl wants a oversized stuffed animal.

"I'm sure she'll like it." The blonde assured. "Do you wanna go ahead and leave? We can go get something for lunch."

"Sure. I'll text Damon and see if he left the car." Alaric said handing the panda over to Caroline so he could fish his phone out of his pocket.

"I'll kill him if he didn't."

* * *

Damon was sitting at a bar when his phone buzzed.

_Did u happen 2 leave the keys 4 ur car -Ric_

Damon sighed and rolled his eyes at all the text speak. It drove him nuts and that's exactly why Ric did it.

**It's under my seat. Be careful and don't scratch her. Don't let vampire Barbie drive. ~D**

Damon slipped his phone back into his pocket and took a sip of his bourbon. The only reason he slipped away was because he realized he was having fun. Too much fun. It bothered him, because if he was with anyone else he would've hated it.

He decided that he really didn't want to think of anything serious right now, so he paid for his drink, (yes, he actually pays for things sometimes) and went to find something to occupy his time.

A few minutes later he was walking down what looked like the main shopping square when he spotted a dress in a boutique window.

It was a pale pick color with a sequined one shoulder strap, and it flowed all the way to the floor.

The first thing Damon thought was that it would look amazing on Caroline, especially the color of it. He went into the store just to see how much it was. When the shop worker gave him the price, his jaw nearly dropped. No way could a dress be that expensive. He wasn't even sure if the blonde would even like it.

On a whim, he bought it and went to stash it in the hotel somewhere she wouldn't find it. He wasn't even sure he was going to give it to her.

He ended up putting it in the back of the closet in Ric's room. Damon figured that there was no reason for the blonde to go in there and it was stashed in the back, so Alaric probably wouldn't find it.

Damon was about to walk back out of the suite when he heard Caroline and Ric walking down the hallway towards the room. He quickly grabbed a blood bag and arranged himself on the couch so that it looked like he had been there for a while.

Ric and Caroline stumbled into the suite with there hands full of their purchases from the zoo and some Chinese take-out.

They sat the food down on the kitchen counter and collapsed on the couches.

"How can walking through a zoo be so exhausting?" Ric exclaimed.

"I don't know, but all I want to do now is go take a nap." Caroline said with a yawn.

"Are we still going to the club or are we just going to go tomorrow?" Ric asked looking down at his watch.

Damon rolled his eyes, "How are you two even tired? You don't have too come, but I'm definitely going."

"Damon, when we got to the gift shop you snuck away. We don't even know where you were most of the day. You shouldn't be tired at all." Caroline pointed out.

"Of course I snuck away." Damon said, pointedly. "I didn't want anything from the gift shop. It's all overpriced and cheap"

"Yeah, you're probably right." Caroline rolled her eyes and decided not to argue with him. It would just make him grumpy anyways. "I still want to go to the club, just give me like a hour to get a shower and get ready."

"We can eat first." Damon said gesturing to the food sitting on the counter.

They all fixed a plate and sat at the table.

"So where did you go after you left the zoo?" Alaric asked Damon.

"Grabbed a bourbon at a bar and then came back here." Contrary to popular belief, Damon wasn't comfortable lying to people, especially those he considered friends.

Alaric could tell he wasn't telling the exact truth, but decided to question him on it later. If he wasn't telling the truth then he probably had a reason.

"I'm surprised you didn't go feed instead of getting a blood bag." Caroline said. She had thought that he only fresh fed.

"I wasn't in the mood." Damon replied.

Caroline thought something smelt fishy, seeing as she had never not been 'in the mood.'

"Really? You must know something that I don't. I would fresh feed all the time if I could."

This surprised Damon, "You fresh feed?"

"Yeah, taught myself." Caroline said looking down at her plate. "Took a few times to get it right."

At this, Damon felt terrible. She didn't have anyone to teach her the ways of a vampire. He should have been there for her. Because he wasn't there to help her she had killed someone. Maybe more than one.

Alaric caught the look on Damon's face. He looked miserable, like he blamed himself for what had happened with Caroline.

He decided to change the subject, "So, what's the name of the club we're going to?"

" Black Diamond. I've been to it once, and it was nice." Damon said, relieved that the subject was changed.

"Oh, I've heard of that!" Caroline exclaimed.

"Is it hard to get into?" Ric asked.

"We don't have to worry about that. I'll just compel everyone in." Damon said.

"Good, that way we don't have to pay to get in, it's ridiculously expensive." Caroline said, standing up to take her plate to the kitchen.

'_That's hot.' _Damon thought before he could stop himself. He dismissed the thought. It's no secret that the blonde was hot. He'd thought it before.

"I'm going to go get ready." Caroline told the men.

She slowly made her way to her and Damon's room to get ready. She didn't really feel like going, but she didn't want to be left behind. That and maybe she could somehow prevent Damon from sleeping with some random girl.

Not that she thought that she'd actually be able to. She just hoped she be able to at least prolong the inevitable.

* * *

Back in the kitchen Alaric was questioning Damon on where he really was that afternoon.

"I told you, I was here." Damon said uncomfortably.

"Come on, tell me where you really were." Alaric asked, he was kind of hurt that Damon wouldn't tell him.

Damon didn't know why he wasn't telling Ric. He felt embarrassed that he had bought the dress. He had planned to take it back in morning before anyone woke up. But, Damon saw the hurt on Alaric's face and decided to clue him in. He was Damon's best friend after all.

"Go to your room and look in the back of your closet." Damon said solemnly.

"What?" Alaric asked, confused.

"Just go look." Damon mysteriously answered.

"Okay."

A moment later Ric came back laughing.

"A dress? I thought there was going to be a dead body in there or something." Ric said snickering.

"Hey, stop laughing. It's not funny." Damon scolded.

"Yeah, it is. Who is it for?" Alaric already figured out it was either for Elena or Caroline. Most likely the latter. He also knew that Damon was probably embarrassed. He wasn't used to feelings, or impulse gifts.

Damon muttered something that the teacher couldn't make out.

"What was that?"

"Caroline okay!" Damon whisper-yelled. He didn't want the blonde hearing. "Let's just drop it."

"You going to give it to her? You know, the spring formal is this weekend." Alaric pointed out.

"No, I didn't know that. It doesn't matter though, I'm taking it back in the morning." Damon said.

"Why? I think she would love it." Ric stated. When will Damon realize his feeling for her? It's as plain as day, Alaric thought.

"I don't know. I'll think about it." Damon said. He knew that he would take it back. "I'm going to go get ready."

"Just so you know, some things about her may surprise you." Alaric said, standing up and heading towards his room.

This confused Damon. What did Ric mean?

Damon shook his head, trying to displace the thoughts that were swarming his mind. He made his way to his and Caroline's room to get ready for the night.

Caroline walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later fully dressed. She didn't want a repeat of that morning. She found Damon in their room shuffling things around in his bag.

"Damn it." He muttered. How could he of forgotten it?

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked, slightly worried.

"I forgot my damn leather jacket." He scolded.

Caroline chuckled, "Seriously? That's what you're sulking about?"

Damon rolled his eyes, "Of course. That jacket makes me look like a hot badass."

Caroline rolled her eyes and grabbed her make-up bag from her suitcase and walked up to the full length mirror.

"If you say so. I'm done in the bathroom if you want to grab a quick shower."

Caroline sat crossed legged in front of the mirror applying mascara when Damon came sauntering out of the shower wearing nothing at all and no towel in sight.

"Uh, why are you naked?" She asked trying not to admire his body, but failing miserably.

He smirked noticing her eyes roam up and down his body in the reflection of the glass.

"I forgot my clothes and there are no more clean towels."

Caroline scoffed, she knew there was towels in the bathroom.

"Okay." She said, getting up and leaving the room.

Why would he come out naked? She rolled her eyes and chalked it up to his arrogance. He probably just wanted to show off his body.

The blonde made her way to the living room and sat down on the couch. She pulled out her phone and hit the on button. She had turned it off last night so she wouldn't be bothered by Elena or her mother.

She had four voice messages and eleven text. She let out a exasperated breathe, why did no one trust her to take care of herself?

Eight of the text messages were from Elena basically demanding that Caroline tell her why she went and to come back. Two were form her mother telling her to be careful and to call if there's any trouble and one message was from Bonnie asking her what her dress for the dance looks like. Looks like no one had clued her in yet, thought the blonde.

The only message that she replied to was the one from Bonnie, telling her she hadn't gotten one yet. She didn't have any reason to ignore the witch, she had always been there for her and was never as self-centered as Elena.

She deleted the voice messages without listening to them. They were all probably from Elena, whining about stuff.

Caroline stood up and walked to the kitchen in search of a some alcohol.

She figured it didn't hurt for her to get the night started a little early.

* * *

They all decided to take Damon's car. More like Damon decided. The other two didn't really mind. Caroline hopped into the back and tied a scarf over her hair.

"Why are you wearing a scarf on your head?" Damon asked.

"Because you refuse to put the top up in here the wind is really bad. This way it won't mess up my hair." Caroline disclosed.

"It looks ridiculous." He muttered in return.

Either Caroline didn't hear him, or she chose to ignore him. Either way he was glad she hadn't chosen to badger him into raising the cover.

"Allons-y." Caroline muttered as they pulled out of the hotel garage.

"You know French?" Damon asked, puzzled.

"What?" Ric asked, not hearing what Caroline had said.

"No, it's just something I learned from a TV show." Caroline said.

"What are you two talking about?" Ric asked. He was thoroughly confused.

"Just something Blondie said under her breath." Damon said.

"Oh." It sounded crazy, but Alaric sometimes forgot that he was in company with vampires. They usually seemed so normal.

They made it to the club around nine. The club was already packed full and the only reason they were allowed in was because if Damon's compulsion.

When they got inside all three immediately went to the bar.

"Okay, so I'll see you two tomorrow. I'll leave the car with the keys under the seat." Damon said arrogantly. "Adios."

Damon disappeared into the crown in search of a willing woman.

Ric and Caroline rolled their eyes and sat down on a couple of bar stools.

"I need Bourbon for him and a cosmopolitan for me please." Caroline told one of the bartenders.

"I'm going to need to see some ID for you, sweetheart." He replied, eyeing the blonde skeptically.

"You've already seen my ID." Caroline compelled. "And these drinks will be free."

The bartender hastily poured the drinks and handed them to the two. "They're on the house."

"Thanks." Caroline replied happily.

"I could've paid for them." Alaric said.

"Oh, I plan to pay for any after this one. I just figured one free one was okay." Caroline smirked.

"Ah, okay." Ric said awkwardly. Neither of them knew what to say, so they settled into a semi-awkward silence.

Caroline swiveled around on the stool and searched the crowd for Damon. She spotted him in the far left corner of the club chatting to a women who looked to be in her early thirties.

Caroline scoffed. It made her angry when she knew it shouldn't.

"You like him, don't you?" Alaric asked, seeing her look longingly towards Damon.

Caroline turned towards Ric in surprise. She looked back towards Damon to make sure he hadn't heard, thankfully the music was too loud for even a vampire to hear over.

"How did you know?" Caroline asked. If Ric knew, then Damon possibly knew too.

Ric knowing what she was thinking replied, "Don't worry, it's not all that noticeable. I'm good at figuring that kind of stuff out." He shrugged.

"I don't really know what to say." Caroline said, looking down at her drink.

"I won't tell him." Ric said. "Well, I'm going to go see if I can find someone to buy a drink for."

"Okay, have fun. See you tomorrow. You can take the car if you want to." Caroline offered.

"Are you sure?" Ric asked. He didn't want to leave her stranded here by herself.

"Yeah, I'll just run to the hotel. I haven't done that in a while, so it'll be fun." Caroline assured him. She figured she'd just head to the hotel as soon as she noticed the other two leaving.

"Okay, if you have any trouble with anything call one of us." Ric said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Caroline nodded her head and watched as he was swallowed by the dancing crowd.

A couple hours later the boys were gone and Caroline was ready to leave. A few guys had bought her a drink or two. She even danced with a few, but eventually she let them know that she wasn't interested in going home with them.

The blonde was walking out of the restroom when she heard something coming from the door to her right. The steel plate on the door read 'Back Entrance.' Caroline dismissed the noise as a animal savaging for food. She turned and started walking towards the front door when she heard a faint scream. She looked around to see if anyone else had heard it, but it didn't seem like the humans heard it over the still blaring music.

Caroline decided to check it out. She walked through the doorway and found that it lead to a alley way that was a dead end. The first thing she smelt was the sharp metallic aroma of blood. At the entrance of the alley stood a group of angry people. They appeared to be crowded something on the ground. The group shifted and she noticed that it was a woman and she was covered form head to toe in blood.

"Hey, get out of here." Caroline growled.

She didn't know what the situation was, but no one could deserve to be beat that badly.

"Why would we do that, darling?" Said a tall bulky guy. In a flash the man was beside her side, except he didn't appear as a human anymore. In his place, stood a midnight black wolf.

With a gut-wrenching realization Caroline looked upward and saw a full moon hanging in the sky. She quickly turned and tried to grasp the handle of the door to the club, but someone grabbed her from behind. She screamed and her face changed.

"Wait, she's a vamp. And from the look of it, a baby one." Someone from the back of the group said.

"What are you doing on our territory?" Said a stout women who looked like she was ready to tear Caroline to pieces.

"Please, let me go. I didn't know this was your territory. I'll leave. I promise." She said on the brink if tears. She hated seeming so weak, but she had no clue what to do in this kind of situation.

"I have a idea." The sneering woman said with a twisted smile on her face. "You can go. But, not without a price."

The woman whistled and the black wolf charged toward Caroline and pounced. She fell back on the ground.

The woman whistled again and the wolf backed away. Caroline was absolutely terrified. She didn't understand.

"There you go, darling. Hope you have a wonderful night." The woman laughed wickedly and exited the alley. They all followed her and someone grabbed the unconscious lady on the ground.

Caroline's heart was beating so fast in her chest that it hurt. When she was sure they were gone she pulled herself over to the alley wall pulled out her phone. She quickly dialed Damon's number.

He answered on the fourth ring.

"What is it, Blondie? The night was just getting fun." He asked agitated.

"There were werewolves. I didn't know what to do." She whimpered into the phone.

"What? Are you okay? Where are you?" Damon hurriedly asked.

"I'm behind the club. I think I'm f-" Caroline's voice cut off. She noticed there was blood covering the bottom half of her tank top. She pulled it up and started to cry harder.

"Caroline, are you there? What happened? Are they back? Talk to me damn it!" Came Damon's worried voice from the phone.

Damon appeared in the mouth of the alley and flashed to her side. No, this couldn't be happening. Please, he begged inside his head. Don't let this happen. Not to her.

"It bit me." She sobbed hard into his shirt as he examined the wound.

At this point there was tears streaming down Damon's face. He quickly grabbed his phone and dialed the number he thought he'd never have to use.

**A/N #2= I hope you don't hate me for making you wait so long and then ending it with a cliffhanger. It just felt like the right place to end it. I tried to make this an extra (extra) long chapter to make up for the long wait. It's by far the longest chapter I've ever written. To all the readers who don't watch Doctor Who, (You really should! It's a brilliant show.) or speak French, Allons-y means 'Let's go'. I'll post as soon as I can! Hopefully it won't be another two months. If you have a moment I'd really appreciate it if you could let me know what you thought. **


	6. Chapter 6

Stealing My Heart - Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own The Vampire Diaries. **

**A/N: Hi! I want to thank you all for the reviews, follows, and favorites! I really didn't expect so many reviews or follows. I can't even express how thankful I am!**

"Hello?" Answered the stoic voice of the eldest Original.

"Caroline's been bitten by a werewolf, we're in Charlottesville. She's already passed out and I think it's effecting her quickly." Damon said, trying to mask the sound of worry in his voice.

"How was she bitten?" Klaus stated nonchalantly.

"How do I know? She needs your blood." Damon gathered the unconscious blonde off the asphalt with his free arm and started walking towards the hotel.

"Who says I'll give her any of my blood? She isn't my problem."

Damon dropped his act and replied with a voice full of emotion, "Please, I've never asked you for anything. I'll do what ever you want, just save her."

This surprised Klaus. He'd never heard the eldest Salvatore sounds so helpless.

'_Could it be that he may of gotten over his infatuation with the doppelganger and moved on to the baby vamp?' _Klaus asked himself. It definitely seemed plausible, he thought.

"Hmm, I don't know." Klaus replied, maybe he could use this crush to his advantage. "You say you'll do anything?"

"Yes. Anything, I promise! We're in the suite at the Hilton, just please hurry!" Damon yelled into the phone desperately.

Damon knew that he shouldn't agree to do anything, but the moment he had seen the bite on Caroline's abdomen, he knew. He knew that he loved her. He didn't know when it had happened, or when his love for Elena had melted away, but he knew that he would do anything to save the blonde.

"I'll be there in an hour, but remember, you promised anything." Klaus hung up and went to fetch his personal driver.

Damon slipped his phone into his pocket and flashed to the hotel.

Once inside, he gently laid Caroline's unconscious body on their bed. He went to the restroom and wet a hand cloth to clean the wound. He pulled her shirt up midway and gasped at the sight. The would was progressing extremely fast. Way faster than it had for Rose. He carefully wiped all the blood from the wound and dressed it with a bandage he found in the bathroom cupboard.

He glanced at the clock and saw that it had only been a few minutes since he got of the phone with Klaus. How was he supposed to just sit and wait, while the blonde lay dying beside him? He sat on the bed beside her and pulled out his mother's locket from his pocket. Staring down at his mother, he knew she would be so disappointed in what he had become. Not the vampire part, but the part where he treated everyone so badly. Most of all how terrible he treats woman.

Caroline's eyes fluttered open. "Damon… Please help..."

Damon wanted to start sobbing then and there. She sounded so terrified. He sat the locket on the night stand and turned back to the wounded blonde.

"Shhh, it's okay." He pulled her into his lap, so that he was holding her in his arms. "Klaus is on his way."

She nodded, "I'm so tired…" She said closing her eyes and slipping back to sleep.

He wiped away the tears that had slipped down his cheeks and shifted Caroline so the he could pull his phone from his pocket.

He decided that he should probably call Ric and let him know that he needed to come back.

"Hey, didn't expect to hear from you tonight. What's up?" Alaric asked, happily.

The teacher had just left a woman named Julie at her house and was walking to Damon's car.

"You need to come back to the hotel. Something happened at the club after we left and Caroline was bitten by a werewolf." Damon said furiously. He was passed the point of being scared. He was pissed and wanted to find the mutt that did this to Caroline.

"Oh, God. Is she going to be alright?" Ric asked, alarmed. He didn't want anything to happen to her. She was too sweet and young to die.

"I think so, I had to call Klaus. He's on his way." Damon admitted, "I can't just let her die."

"I understand, I'll be there in a few minutes." Alaric replied. He didn't like the fact that Damon had to call the Original.

"Okay." Damon hung up, and decided to call Bonnie. He knew Caroline would need someone when she woke up, and didn't think Elena or her mother would be a good choice.

"Hello?" Came the sleepy voice of a very confused Bonnie. "Damon? What on earth are you calling me for at two-thirty in the morning!?"

"I'm sorry, but Caroline needs you. She's been injured. We're in Charlottesville. You need to hurry." Damon said, he didn't want to explain to her the extent of the blondes injuries until she got to the hotel.

"What happened? Is she going to be okay?" Bonnie asked, suddenly wide awake.

"She should be fine. Just get here as fast as possible." Damon said glancing down at the younger vampire in his arms.

"What is she doing there? With you?" Bonnie asked, worried that Damon had done something to Caroline.

"Hey, I didn't do anything to her!" Damon said, hearing the tone of her voice. "Just hurry!"

"I found a new spell earlier. It should transport me there in a few minutes." Bonnie said, glancing at the spell book that sat on her bedside table. She didn't mention that it will probably drain the energy from her and that she had never used it before, so she wasn't sure that it was safe. But, it was the quickest way to her friend.

"Okay." Damon gave her the address and hung up.

He pulled Caroline closer to himself and brushed her hair away from her face. He really should've noticed how much of an amazing person she was before this happened. If he hadn't been off with some random woman tonight, things may of gone differently.

Damon was jarred out of his thoughts when the bedroom door opened revealing Alaric standing there with a worried expression marring his face.

He was surprised when he saw the position that Damon had Caroline in. He couldn't help but grin at how sweet it looked.

"How is she?" Ric asked, walking over to a chair in the corner of the room and lowered himself into it.

"I don't think she doing very well." Damon said, looking exhausted. "Klaus should be here in about thirty minutes."

"I wish there was some other way to save her. I hate having to rely on him."

"I do too, but there is no other option. I had to promise that I'd do something in return." The vampire admitted.

"What?" Alaric asked, wanting to know what he had to promise, thinking that it wouldn't be a small price.

"Don't know yet." Changing the subject, Damon said, "Bonnie will be here soon. She's using some kind of spell to get here quicker."

"That's good, she'll probably want someone she's close to when she wakes up." Ric nodded. "Do you think we need to call Liz?"

Damon shook his head, "I thought about it, and I don't think so. It seems like she's more of a hindrance to Care than a help or mother."

Ric blinked, "When did you start calling her Care?"

Damon was about to answer when there was a flash of pure bright light and they heard a crash come from the living room.

"That's probably Bonnie, do you mind going to get her?" Damon asked, gesturing to the slumbering blonde in his arms.

The teacher nodded and made his way to the living room.

A minute later he returned carrying the unconscious witch.

"What happened?" Damon asked, already knowing the answer from seeing the thin line of blood streaming from Bonnie's nose.

"Think she used too much of her energy for the spell. What do we do?" Ric asked, laying the witch down on the foot of the bed.

"I'll give her a little blood, she won't be happy about it, but she'd be even angrier if we let her sleep it off." Damon shifted Caroline down beside him and bit his wrist. He opened Bonnie's mouth and let a few drops of his blood run into her throat.

A few seconds later the witch opened her eyes and licked her lips. She grimaced and looked sternly at Damon, "You had to feed me blood?"

"Sorry, but you need to be awake when Klaus gets here." Damon said glancing down at his watch, "Which will be in about ten minutes."

"Klaus? Why is he coming?" She asked, not putting together what had happened.

Bonnie looked over at the blonde and paled. "Oh."

"I had no other choice." Damon said grimly.

Bonnie nodded and gabbed Caroline's hand. "I just hope she'll be okay. What happened?" She looked to the two men.

The boys both looked guilty.

"We weren't with her." Alaric said looking down at the floor.

"She called me after it happened and passed out right as I got there." Damon said, "I'm going to find that fucking mutt if it's the last think I do."

The witch was surprised at the protectiveness that was emanating off the vampire. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something about him had changed.

"We'll find whoever did it." She said. "Do you two mind leaving the room? I'm going to put her in clean clothes, so that she's comfortable when she wakes up."

The boys nodded and both left the room. Making their way to the living room, Ric went and grabbed two beers from the fridge.

"Here, drink this." Alaric said tossing him one of the bottles, "It may make you feel a little better."

"Doubt it." Damon muttered, setting the bottle on the table in front of the couch.

He couldn't help but blame himself. It was really all his fault. He shouldn't of let the blonde come. Or at least stay at the club with her. This could've been prevented if he just wasn't so stupid.

Ric caught the flash of quilt on Damon's face.

"Hey, it's not your fault." Ric said, "She was probably just at the wrong place, at the wrong time."

"If I just would've been there with her, instead of being a freaking manwhore…" Damon said, sounding furious with himself.

"You realized it didn't you?"

Surprised, Damon looked up, "You knew how I felt before I even did?"

Ric chuckled lightly, "At first I though you just tolerated her, but then we came on this trip and you two started bickering and you flirting with her. Yeah, it was pretty evident."

Ric really wanted to tell his friend that Caroline felt the same way back, but he had given his word to the blonde that he wouldn't tell Damon.

"I didn't even realize it until I saw her on that alley floor. She just looked so terrified.. I don't want her to ever feel that way again." Damon explained.

"Are you going to pursue her?" Ric asking, curiously.

"I don't know. I doubt she'd want to go out with me. After all the shit I put her through when we 'dated' last time. You weren't in Mystic Falls yet, but I treated her really bad." Damon said sadly.

"Yeah, but your emotions were off, she probably understands that now that she's a vampire." Ric urged, he didn't know how else to get Damon to go after her.

"I'm no-" Damon was interrupted when there was a knock on the door.

"Thank God he's here." Damon exclaimed, relieved.

He opened the door to Klaus leaning against the frame.

"She's in the back bedroom." Damon directed the Original to follow him.

Knocking first, the two vampires and Ric entered the room.

Bonnie had changed Caroline into a pair of clean pajamas. The witch was now laying on the bed, sleeping.

'_Must not of given her enough blood.' _Damon thought to himself. He decided to give her a little more after everything with the blonde was settled.

He shook Bonnie's shoulder to wake her up and pointed to Klaus when she opened her eyes. The brunette sat up and glared at Klaus.

"I'm here to help, it might pay for you to be nice." Klaus stated.

He produced a small vial of blood from his coat pocket and handed it to Damon. "Make sure she drinks it all."

Damon uncapped the bottle and tilted the blonde's head back. After all the contents had drizzled into Caroline's mouth Damon asked, "How long will it take to start working?"

"Oh, it's already working, but she won't wake for about an hour in a half to two hours." Klaus said. He risked looking at the blonde for a moment. She looked so pale and fragile. Klaus didn't feel any romantic feelings for Caroline, but he thought that she would be nice to have as a friend.

That's one thing people always mistook about Klaus. He did feel normal human emotions. He was just exceptionally well at hiding them. The Original occasionally found himself lonely and bored. Now that Rebekah had been awoken, life were slightly more tolerable. But only slightly, his younger sister could be quite annoying.

That's the only reason he wanted to make more hybrids. He needed friends, or at the very least, companions. But, no one needed to know that. For now, them believing he was pure evil was his best option.

The Original straightened up and looked to Damon, "Can I have a private word with you?"

It was worded like a question, but sounded a awful lot like a demand.

Damon nodded, "Let's go downstairs. Let me know if you need me." He directed towards Bonnie and Ric.

Once downstairs Klaus said, "I'm not sure what I'll have you do yet, but be sure that you will pay me back for this favor."

"I know." Damon said solemnly. "Thank you. I don't know what I'd do if you wouldn't of came."

Klaus hid the surprise on his face, he didn't think that Damon would ever say that. He didn't blame Damon for falling for Caroline. She was very beautiful and had one of those personalities that anyone could like.

"Yeah, well, cant have her dying. Who knows, maybe you'll be useful one day." Klaus replied.

"Do you think you could find the werewolf that did this to her?" Damon asked the Original. He really didn't like asking him for anymore favors, but figured that Klaus was his best option.

Klaus contemplated it for a moment, "I suppose I can look into it. I know the pack that owns this territory. Killed one of their Alphas once."

Before Damon could even utter a thanks, the eldest vampire flashed away to his waiting car a few blocks away.

Damon blinked, he hated how Klaus was there one minute and gone the next. He sighed, he really wasn't looking forward to whatever Klaus had planned for him.

Taking a deep breath the vampire walked back into the hotel and up to the suite.

* * *

"It's been an hour, shouldn't she be waking up?" Damon asked no in particular.

Bonnie eyed him warily. He had been acting so weirdly since she showed up. When Damon had returned from his talk with Klaus he had climbed up onto the bed and pulled Caroline into his lap. The witch had almost protested, but Alaric caught her eye before and shook his head, giving her a look that had said 'I'll explain later'.

"Klaus said it could take up to two hours for her to wake up." Ric said from his chair in the corner.

"At least she doesn't look as pale as she did, and the wound is closing up nicely." Bonnie stated after examining Caroline's stomach.

"Can you go get some pancakes from IHOP?" Damon asked Bonnie, "You can take my debit card."

Bonnie's eyebrows rose quickly, she didn't think anyone but herself knew that the blonde loved pancakes. She shot a questioning look to the oldest Salvatore.

"We were talking about her mother on the way up here and she muttered something about eating a lot of pancakes when Liz is at work. I figured it was a sort of comfort food." He explained.

"Okay, I'll have to borrow one of your cars though." She said after a moment.

"I'll drive you." Ric volunteered. "I saw one on the way back from the zoo."

Bonnie looked confused, "The zoo?"

Damon chuckled looking down at the vampire in his arms. "Care's idea."

The witch decided to leave before Damon started acting any weirder. She stood up and asked, "Do you want anything while we're out?"

Damon shook his head. He was just trying to get the Bonnie out of the suite so that he could feed Caroline some blood. He knew it would make the young woman squeamish, so he came up with a task for her.

Ric and Bonnie left the room, and Damon carefully maneuvered Caroline so that she was propped up on some pillows. He debated on whether to feed her a blood bag or his own blood. After a few minutes of deliberation he decided to feed her his own. Since his blood was in her system when she turned, it could help heal her quicker and she wouldn't need as much as she would if she was drinking human blood.

Biting his wrist he carefully tilted the Caroline's head back and put his arm to her mouth. A second later the blonde latched on and started sucking. After a minute or so she opened her eyes, startled. She sat up as quickly as she could and groaned at the sting in her abdomen.

"What happened?" She asked, positioning herself where it didn't hurt as bad.

"Klaus came and gave you blood. How are you feeling?" Damon asked, laying his hand on the blonde's arm.

Caroline deadpanned, "How do you think?"

Damon withdrew his hand guiltily, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there to defend you."

Caroline's face softened at the sincerity in his words.

"It's not your fault. I shouldn't of gone out there. I'm so stupid." She said quietly.

"Don't say that. You're not stupid, just a little blonde." Damon said, winking.

Caroline looked up quickly with a defensive look on her face, but it quickly melted away when she noticed he was just joking around. She gave him a small smile, and said, "Haha, very funny." She stuck out her tongue and gently pushed him.

The blonde cringed at the pain she felt at the small movement.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked sounding worried.

"Yeah, just hurting a little." _Or a lot,_ Caroline thought to herself.

"I was hoping that my blood would help that.." Damon muttered.

Caroline glanced at the vampire beside her, "That's why you were feeding me your blood?"

She was actually very thankful. When she had called him in the alley she had figured he would just leave her there to die. It's not like her cared about her. She was just a daft, annoying baby vampire.

"Yes." Damon stated.

"How long was Klaus here?" She asked, curiously.

Damon wasn't going to tell her that he had to promise a favor for the blood. She would just get too worked up about it. "Not long, he just brought a small vial of it and left."

Caroline could tell he was hiding something from her, but decided to just ignore it. For now.

"I need to use the restroom." Caroline said, wanting to check out her wound, privately.

She began to stand up, but fell back on the bed when the pain became too much to bare.

Within the second Damon was at her side, asking if she was okay.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just let me rest for a moment and I'll try again." She sighed. This was going to be really annoying for her.

Damon carefully scooped the blonde into his arms.

"Hey! Put me down this instant!" Caroline said, smacking his cheek. "I can do it myself."

"Caroline, just let me help you. It'll be easier this way and less painful." He said softly, gazing down at the blonde.

"Fine, but I'm not some damsel in distress." She huffed.

Damon opened the bathroom door and sat her on the side the tub.

"I'll be right outside the door, let me know if you need any help." Damon said, motioning to the bedroom.

He really didn't want to leave her alone, but he knew that she wouldn't allow him to stay.

As soon as Damon closed the door behind him, Caroline grabbed the hem of her shirt. She was surprised to see that she had been changed into her comfortable pajamas. Her face flushed bright red when she realized that Damon had to be the one who had changed her clothes.

Peeling back the white gauze on her stomach she gasped. Although it had healed immensely since she had drank the Original's blood and furthermore with Damon's, it still looked terrible. The torn skin was red and irritated and was tented a dark purple color. She sighed. It's probably going to be like this for at least a few days she thought.

* * *

"So, can you tell me what the hell has gotten into Damon?" Bonnie asked Alaric.

They were in his car and were on their way to the pancake house.

"I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. Especially Elena. I'm not sure how she'll react." Ric said, seriously.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "Is it really that serious?"

"Yes."

The witch sighed, "Fine, I promise."

Damon would be so pissed if he found out what the teacher was about to tell her.

"Damon loves Caroline." Ric blurted, not being able to hold it in any longer.

"You're kidding, right?" Bonnie asked, wide eyed. "Please tell me you're kidding."

Ric shook his head, "Not kidding. He is head over heels for her."

"Caroline can't ever know." She said sternly.

Dumbfounded, Ric said, "What? Why?"

"She thinks she loves him too. He would break her heart. I know he's your friend and all, but you know I'm right. He isn't good enough for her." Bonnie said adamantly. "Care deserves someone who will give her the world. That man-whore of a vampire will never do that."

By the time that Bonnie was done with her mini-rant Ric was fuming. What gave her the right to judge Damon? This should be Caroline's choice, not her friend's.

"Really, Bonnie?" Ric asked. "I'm disappointed. I thought you were a better person than that."

The conversation was dropped as they pulled into IHOP's parking lot.

* * *

Damon and Caroline were sitting on one of the couches talking about kittens (of all things) when the teacher and witch walked through the door carrying bags.

"Bonnie? Ric?" Caroline asked.

Seeing the confused look on her face, Damon hastily explained, "I called Bonnie, because I thought you would want a friend. Ric was coming back when I called him to inform him of your accident."

Bonnie sat the bags down on the coffee table and hugged Caroline. "Thank God that you're okay."

The blonde patted her back, "You didn't have to come."

"Yes, I did! You were bitten by a werewolf, Caroline. That's serious." Bonnie said.

Caroline rolled her eyes, "But, I'm fine now."

Bonnie dropped the subject, not wanting to upset her.

Caroline looked at the bags on the table and her eyes lit up.

"Pancakes?" She asked Bonnie.

"Of course." Bonnie smiled. "Thank Damon, he's the one the suggested it."

Caroline carefully flung her arms around the unsuspecting vampire. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Hey, it's no problem." He chuckled, who knew she loved pancakes so much? He stored that information away for later.

Bonnie looked at the two with a sour look on her face. She really didn't want the two together. She quickly schooled her features to a look of happiness and started passing out plates for the pancakes.

**A/N #2: I know that things are happening relatively fast, but it's still going to be a little while before our favorite vampires are together. I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and of you have a moment, I'd be very grateful if you would review! I haven't really thought of a plot or storyline for this story, it's basically writing itself, so if you have any suggestions or ideas, let me know and I'll try to add them in! **


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